Smartest Guy at the Bar: UFC 157 Edition

The “Happiest Place on Earth” turns extra violent on Saturday when
the
Ultimate Fighting Championship drops anchor at the Honda Center
in Anaheim, Calif., just minutes from Disneyland.

For its fifth pay-per-view at the venue, the promotion will make a
significant contribution to the history books, as Ronda
Rousey and Liz
Carmouche step into the cage for the UFC
157 main event. The UFC’s first-ever female bout will feature
Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, against Carmouche, the
organization’s first openly gay fighter. Keep these future trivia
question answers stored in the back of your heads.

File
Photo

The benefits outweigh the risks.

How We Got Here: The Strikeforce
hexagon was just too small for the larger-than-life Rousey and her
pay-per-view potential. With the San Jose, Calif.-based promotion’s
lifeless body still warm, UFC president Dana White introduced the
Olympic bronze medalist as the first UFC women’s bantamweight
champion and announced that she would headline an event inside the
Octagon. Of course, the judoka could not fight herself in the cage,
so
Invicta Fighting Championships and Strikeforce veteran
Carmouche was called up to the big leagues because, as White put
it, “No one else would say yes.” … Lyoto
Machida and Dan
Henderson will provide the Southern California crowd with a
karate-versus-wrestling showdown in the co-main event. “Hendo” was
in line to challenge light heavyweight champion Jon Jones at
UFC 151, until a knee injury kept him sidelined and eventually cost
him a title shot. The oldest fighter on the UFC roster is now left
with the tough task of figuring out Machida’s complex style in
order to keep is championship aspirations alive … Urijah Faber
has been left to spin his wheels with nowhere to go.

The former
World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion remains
arguably the sport’s brightest star below 155 pounds, but his
recent 0-5 run in title fights keeps him at a distance in the rush
for bantamweight gold. Ivan
Menjivar, owner of a 4-1 UFC record, will look to derail “The
California Kid” in their long-awaited rematch.

Shooting Star: Throw in some armbars and a few
bright smiles and you have a recipe for success. Rousey took the
world by storm, plain and simple. Her intriguing backstory, vicious
fighting style and easiness on the eyes grabbed her more headlines
from non-MMA media than any fighter since Brock
Lesnar. She is as comfortable on the red carpet as she is
taking leather to the face from a sweaty sparring partner. Just
when we thought Conan O’Brien, HBO and the New York Times had bled
Rousey’s story dry, UFC “Primetime” debuted with some of the best
storytelling Zuffa has ever produced. Rousey’s journey is heart
wrenching, and, with the help of some expensive cameramen, the
story was told to perfection. America is falling in love with the
blonde judoka. Will it translate into pay-per-view buys?

File
Photo

Henderson has fought a murderer’s row.

The Other Woman: Do not feel bad for Carmouche in
her role as the foil. Instead, consider the opportunity a winning
lottery ticket for the Marine. She will likely make more money in
sponsorships from her first UFC appearance than she made in any
other purse in her 10-fight career.

Add in the exposure money cannot buy from the “Primetime”
treatment, and you have a feel-good story on your hands, even for
someone playing second fiddle to the Queen of MMA.

This is heartwarming, win or lose, for a woman who served our
country, works at her gym just to pay the bills and does not even
own a dining table.

Useless Fact: Machida will be the 16th current,
former or eventual UFC, Strikeforce or
Pride Fighting Championships titleholder Henderson has
fought.

His illustrious career spanning the middleweight, light heavyweight
and heavyweight divisions, the greatest American fighter of
all-time owns a 13-6 record against this murderer’s row, splitting
fights with Kazuo
Misaki, Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira and Wanderlei
Silva, while twice beating Murilo
Bustamante and Renato
Sobral. No other fighter in history can tout this level of
competition. Not to hijack these facts with a testosterone
replacement therapy debate, but would have MMA fans been robbed of
the last couple of incredible years if “Hendo” had not dipped into
the fountain of youth created by the controversial treatment? It is
something worth adding to an already heated discussion.

A Tale of Two Titles: The futures of two UFC belts
could be decided at UFC 157. The next challenger to Rousey’s
women’s bantamweight championship will be up for grabs should the
12-to-1 favorite do what the oddsmakers expect her to do. Potential
challengers for Rousey have already either been victimized by the
champion or remain relegated to Miscellaneous Fighter X status.
Former Strikeforce titleholder Cristiane
Santos is the only potential opponent at the moment who would
not be a massive underdog. “Cyborg’s” newly signed Invicta contract
gives her the option of a UFC move if the 145-pound Brazilian
decides to drop the extra 10 pounds to face Rousey. Otherwise, the
biggest female fight in history may go the way of Olympic wrestling
-- dead and gone because of greed and dilution ... Henderson’s
title shot evaporated when his knee gave out in September. If we
have learned anything, it is this: the UFC’s golden tickets come
with an expiration date. White mentioned Alexander
Gustafsson as the next contender to Jones’ belt should he beat
Gegard
Mousasi in April. However, if Henderson pulls off something
stellar against Machida, a date with Jones could again be in reach.
If not, the 42-year-old two-time Olympian may find himself left out
in the cold, with only his countless other accomplishments to keep
him warm.

File
Photo

Johnson has a nose for the knockout.

Say What: During the pre-fight conference call for
UFC 157, it did not take long for the media to start prodding
Henderson for a reaction to the fact that the future hall of famer
is situated in the co-main event underneath a pair of UFC rookie
females. In Henderson’s typical, shoulder-shrugging style, he
responded by looking at the silver lining. All UFC main events are
five rounds; non-championship undercard fights are three rounds.
Who would complain about a lighter workload? “I’ve got no problem,
especially [since] only having to fight three rounds is kind of
nice,” Henderson said. “I’m definitely a fan, and I’ll be watching
after my fight is over.”

Head Scratcher: Seriously, did anyone see the
Josh
Koscheck-Robbie
Lawler fight coming -- a former UFC title contender against a
middle-of-the-road Strikeforce slugger? I could have named 1,000
potential matchups, and this one would not have made the cut. Not
that there is anything specifically wrong with the pairing, but I
would like to know what UFC matchmaker Joe Silva’s dartboard looked
like that day.

Awards Watch: Rousey already has a spot picked out
on her mantle for Carmouche’s arm, and her “Submission of the
Night” check is all but spent … Lavar
Johnson and Brendan
Schaub have fought a combined 24 times in their professional
careers, and 23 of those bouts never heard the final bell. The
judges might as well take a smoke break for the final preliminary
fight. Expect Johnson and Schaub to rattle each other’s brains in
search of a “Knockout of the Night” bonus … Sam
Stout-Caros Fodor
is a tempting clash for “Fight of the Night,” but history shows the
deeper a fight is buried on the undercard, the less likely it is
for its participants to cash bonus checks. Faber has never gone
consecutive appearances under Zuffa employ without a performance
bonus, and Menjivar fights with a willingness to engage his
opponents on their terms. Expect these two bantamweights to bank
some serious dough for their troubles.